Nothing to Lose
by JokertheMatrix
Summary: Devil and Angel AU. One-shot. When you play a game, can you anticipate the consequences of a gamble? Partner fic to "Chained Skybird". Rated T for swearing and violence. Sequel of The Hunter and His Prey


_Happy Thanksgiving! I'd like to thank all my readers, both new and old, for reading my stuff and for liking it. You guys are great, and I'm grateful that you guys like my stuff and even stick with me. You guys are great._

_What got me to finally write the sequel to The Hunter and His Prey was a song named "Angel With a Shotgun" by the Cab. The lyrics don't exactly fit, but I feel like the tone is right. I suggest that you guys listen to the song, it's pretty good... As for the fic, I may or may not make it a trilogy, who knows..._

_At any rate, I hope you enjoy!_

**Hetalia and its characters are not mine**

* * *

_I'm an angel with a shotgun,_

_fighting 'til the war's won,_

_I don't care if heaven won't take me back._

_I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe. _

_Don't you know you're everything I have?_

_...And I, want to live, not just survive, tonight._

_...And I'm gonna hide, hide, hide my wings tonight._

_They say before you start a war,_

_you better know what you're fighting for._

_Well baby, you are all that I adore,_

_if love is what you need, a soldier I will be._

""""""""

Arthur put his book down on his lap and leant back on the park bench. He fidgeted slightly, uncomfortable with the cocoon-like feeling that came with glamour. _This is why I don't use glamour often._

For both angels and devils, glamour could only be done by those of higher rank. It was a rarely used skill since using glamour meant that the being had to act convincingly as a different species and was also prevented from using their natural powers to keep up appearances. Angels only used glamour when a situation called for it, and even then they'd find a way to solve the problem in their natural form. Arthur himself had used glamour only once in his life, and that was to learn how to use the skill.

However, certain circumstances called for desperate measures.

To the human eye, Arthur looked like any other. While he still retained his natural messy golden hair and green eyes, his wings and his weapons were practically nonexistent. To blend in, Arthur had traded his traditional toga and gear for mortal wear. Today he wore black pants and loafers, and despite the warm weather, a green pea coat.

To make sure that he wasn't tempted to use his powers, Arthur had asked one of the higher-ups for a power limiter. They gave him glasses.

Pushing his glasses up with his middle finger, Arthur picked up his book and began to peruse its contents yet again. The book was actually a compilation of the papers HQ had given to him regarding his mission. Even though Arthur had read the papers multiple times before and had already memorized it by heart, he couldn't take his eyes away from it.

_"Conqueror of the Seven Deadly Trials, Prized Fighter of the Demonic Race, Commander of the Crimson Legion, Painter of the Bloody Ground, Lighter of the Icy Flames, Master of the Hellish Games, 666th Devil Lord of the Underworld..."_ They could call him whatever they liked, but the titles meant nothing to Arthur.

They all referred to his devil, and that was all that mattered.

That devil had been the one who had marked him. For the longest time, Arthur had loathed and hated the then nameless devil for ruining his life. Now Arthur felt nothing but pity and an urge to save the devil, the same feelings he held towards the humans he so dearly loved. _If someone had told me a few months ago that I would ever want to save Alfred, I would have called them a liar and blasted them for good measure. _

Arthur chuckled. A few encouraging words and a messed-up past was all that it took for him to let go of his deep vindictiveness and hatred towards Alfred. "I'm either an idiot or a big-hearted fool," he whispered to himself.

Closing the book and putting it back on top of his lap, Arthur sighed again and resumed his search. Alfred had mysteriously disappeared ever since their fateful meeting a few months ago. According to the angels at the Intelligence Department, a scandal was apparently involved, although the details of the event were kept hidden. Arthur had a vague impression of what it could be, but he could hardly reveal such information; after all, it would put Arthur in a scandal of his own. Either way, Alfred hadn't been sighted in either the Under- or Overworld, so that left the Middleworld, otherwise known as the human world. It was highly unlikely that Alfred was hiding in his natural form, so that left the use of glamour. With Alfred's powers, it would be a cakewalk for him to make a high-quality glamour, one that could even fool even supernatural eyes. But Arthur knew what he was like; Alfred may be able to behave for a few months, but it would only be a matter of time before he would become bored and find a source of "entertainment".

Until then, Arthur had to search for him the hard way.

He had been passing through this park one day in one of his searches. When he had passed through this particular spot, a violent chill had went through him. For weeks he had made sure to guard this spot in his natural form, but Alfred never showed up. On a whim, Arthur had decided that he would wait here as a human for one day; after all, if Alfred was in glamour, perhaps it would be more efficient to search for him while in a glamoured form as well. It was a harmless plan; he had nothing to lose if it didn't worked and everything to gain if it did.

Arthur started to tremble violently. _Soon._ He rubbed both of his arms in a futile attempt to calm himself. _He'll come here soon._

Just then, an invisible force knocked Arthur out of the bench. With a 'thump', he fell face-forward on the dirt. "Ack..." Arthur propped himself up slowly, wincing a little and spitting out dirt.

"Dude, you okay? That was one hell of a fall."

Arthur looked up to see a jogger standing next to him. The jogger was a young man wearing a gray shirt and sweats with a thread tied around his neck. He had sunny blonde hair with a cowlick on the right side of his face and sky blue eyes that seemed almost childlike. While he looked to be a bit on the pudgy side, it was easy for Arthur to see that it was from muscle and not fat.

The jogger outstretched his hand. "Need some help getting up?" He asked kindly. Arthur nodded as he took his hand. The jogger pulled him up effortlessly. "What happened?"

"I..." Arthur hesitated. "I-I'm not sure."

The other tilted his head. "You okay? You're shaking right now..."

"I am?" Arthur smiled weakly as he rubbed his arm. "I-It's nothing, I just... I get cold really easily."

"In this heat?"

"I'm, uh... Not from here."

The jogger chuckled. "No kidding. I mean, you didn't say 'thank you' after I helped you, so it's _pretty_ obvious that you're not from these parts."

Arthur flushed. "How rude of me, I apologize. Err, thank you, uh..."

"Call me Al." The other extended his hand. "And may I know the name of the foreigner I just helped? Please tell me you have some weird foreign name or something 'cause that would be soooo cool."

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but my name is hardly odd." Arthur took the other's hand. "It's Arthur."

"Nice t'meetcha Artie!" Al heartily shook his hand.

"I-it's Arthur, not Artie." Arthur shook his hand once it was out of Al's grip, still a bit unsettled with the other's vibrant personality and this whole interaction.

"Details, details." Al waved his hand. His eyes fell to the ground. "That book yours?"

"Huh?" Arthur looked down to see his book sprawled on the ground as Al bent down and picked it up. "Yes, yes it is!" Arthur quickly snatched the book out of Al's hands. "You didn't read any of it, did you?"

Al narrowed his eyes. "It's not porn, is it?"

Arthur immediately reddened. "O-of course not! Just who do you think I am?"

"One hell of a weird guy, that's for sure." The other chuckled. "But nah, I didn't see anything from your book of secrets."

"G-good." _It would have been disastrous if he had seen its contents..._ "That's good..." Arthur straightened himself up and clutched his book at his side. "At any rate, I'm afraid that I am rather busy at the moment, so I'll be on my way. Thank you for helping me up."

"No problem man, but if it's not too much to ask, what kind of urgent business are you on? 'Cause I doubt reading a book is a life-shattering event."

"That's classified."

"'Classified', huh..." Al's interest looked piqued, but he did not pursue the topic any further. "I'll see you around then Artie."

He patted Arthur on the shoulder and started to jog away. Arthur waited until he was a good distance away before he started to follow him.

""""""""

_Where is he going?_ Arthur looked past the corner to see Al still jogging. He had followed Al's jog into an alleyway between two shabby gray apartments. On the side of the apartment on the right were a huge dumpster and a black door next to it. Al stopped in front of the door and reached under his shirt to pull out two keys tied around the thread on his neck. He unlocked the door with one of the keys and stepped in.

Arthur waited a few seconds before running up to the door and trying the doorknob. To his surprise, the door opened without any resistance. Arthur stepped inside a narrow gray corridor and kept walking forward until he found himself at the front entrance. Two double doors were at the front of the room with a couch on the left and a desk on the right, the man at the information desk conveniently fast asleep. A staircase was beside the information desk; a glimpse of a shoe caught Arthur's vision as its owner walked up the stairs.

Quickly Arthur followed him, his mind racing with the many things that could go wrong at the moment. Up and up through the levels they went, with Arthur slightly lagging behind to make sure he wouldn't be seen, until he saw Al stop at the third level. Al opened the door and stepped inside the hallway, with Arthur following a few seconds later. He followed Al through the ensuing corridor, his heart pounding.

_Now what?_ Arthur thought as Al rounded a corner. _What exactly was I planning to do once I caught up with him anyways? _

"H-hey!" Arthur stepped off the corner just as Al opened one of the doors, presumably the one for his apartment unit. "Are you Al?"

"Artie?" Al tilted his head as he turned towards the other, his expression one of plain disbelief. "Don't tell me you live here too?"

"Y-yeah, I, uh, I moved here last week." Arthur tried to look as casual as he could. He was probably failing. "I didn't know you lived here too."

"One hell of a coincidence, huh?" Al grinned as he held the door open. "Want to come over for a while?"

"Yeah, that would be nice..." Arthur gulped as he followed Al inside his apartment room. _What have I done?_

"So..." Al started slowly as he closed the door once Arthur was inside. "Make yourself at home."

He led Arthur inside a plain, medium-sized room. The room had undecorated white walls that were more or less clean and carpets that were more or less light brown. A black sofa was in the center of the room, a coffee table in front of that. A small plasma screen TV on top of a shelf was in front of the coffee table, a Wii at the foot of the shelf. At the back of the room was a double-hung window with dark blue curtains pulled at its side, a small kitchen to the right of the window that had the bare essentials a kitchen needed. A short corridor was to the right of the sofa, two doors on either side of the corridor.

"Very... nice this place is," Arthur commented politely.

"Eh, it's enough." Al walked past him. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Bourbon?"

_Now's a good a time as any. _"You can drop the act now," Arthur replied coldly. "I know that you're not human, 'Al'... Or should I say, 'Alfred'."

Alfred turned and smirked at Arthur. "And here I was starting to doubt whether or not you deserved all your fancy titles. Considering that it took you a while to recognize me last time, I'm quite impressed that you didn't need any hints this time around." He plopped down on the sofa. "What gave me away?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I have my ways. Plus, if you're going to use a pseudonym, at least use one that isn't close to your actual name."

"Little angel, you're hardly one to lecture me on managing to stay hidden. Your performance was so terrible that even a lesser demon could tell a mile away that you weren't human. For one thing, at least I had actually _used_ a pseudonym. I'll have you know that 'Al' is a rather common name around here, so it's pretty sound to use it." He gestured to Arthur. "And I'd like to point out that if you're going to use glamour, at least have the good grace of picking an appearance that isn't a carbon copy of your normal form... You know, minus the wings and the toga and stuff." He tapped the side of his head. "Loving the glasses though- tell me, since when did you start using power limiters?"

"I see you're not wearing yours." Arthur replied curtly, dodging the question.

"I'm not going to do anything while in this form, so why bother?" Alfred shrugged before smiling. "I admit though, I didn't go through the past few months magic-free. I make a point to play a small prank or two every now and then, usually at the park since I find that I have rather... _fond_ memories of it." His smile turned into a grin. "By the way, I couldn't resist playing a cute trick on you when I had seen you on that bench."

"You'd risk exposing your cover just to have some fun?"

"I don't think you realize how utterly _boring_ it is to be human- you can't even fly! Plus, I had to stick my head low and not mess with the law. Do you know how hard that is for someone like me?" He shook his head slightly before looking up again. "Incidentally, how do you know my name? I don't believe I ever told you what it was."

Arthur glared at him. "I'm not stupid," he retorted refusing to answer Alfred's question. He couldn't help but notice that Alfred had seemed angry when he asked how Arthur knew his name; it was even more curious how he seemed to _relax_ after Arthur's sharp response. _Devils are an oddity indeed,_ he thought.

"I know you aren't." Alfred leaned forward. "But I wonder, why haven't you tried to kill me yet? You seem to have known who I was the whole time, and yet you didn't make a move against me. Even now we're just pleasantly chatting." He spread out his arms. "Is it because you're in glamour, or...?"

"I've decided to save you." The words were out of Arthur's mouth before he could stop himself. Alfred looked briefly stunned before bursting into racous laughter.

"'Save me?' You want to _save_ me?" Arthur felt himself flush as Alfred continued to laugh. "Darling, there ain't no use trying to save a devil."

Despite his embarrassment, Arthur folded his arms across his chest. "Devils have been converted into angels before."

"And angels have become devils before." Alfred's smirk grew when he saw Arthur flinch. "See? I have as much desire to be one of you as you do towards becoming one of us."

"It doesn't matter; I'll still try to help you," Arthur said stubbornly. "It's why I'm an angel in the first place- to help those in need."

Alfred smiled condescendingly. "You really are cute you know, thinking that you can help me." He leaned back and slung an arm across the sofa. "Hate to break it to you doll, but I'm a lost cause. Just take one look at me." He gestured to himself with a broad smile. "I'm on the run from my own kind since they figured out that I marked the angel who- get this- is coincidentally the one sent to kill me! I've betrayed my own species, and I sure as hell don't plan on staying 'human' forever. If that doesn't spell 'lost cause', I don't know what does."

Arthur was stunned. "How do you know that I've been assigned to exterminate y-?'"

"I'm not stupid either you know." Alfred chuckled, his eyes glancing over the book still in Arthur's arms before looking back up at Arthur himself. "Point is, you're supposed to kill me and I'm supposed to kill you, and yet here we are at close proximity to each other and _not_ duking it out, all because you want to save me."

"A rather accurate description if I do say so myself."

"Man, our relationship sure is unusual, isn't it?" Alfred let out a small chuckle. "An angel and a devil... A pair that was never meant to be."

Arthur watched curiously as Alfred fell silent, a pensive expression in his face. "Why," Alfred snapped back to reality at the sound of Arthur's voice. "Why did you mark an angel? Why did you choose me?"

Alfred smiled. "Would you get jealous if I said that any angel would have worked fine?"

Arthur scoffed. "Don't be silly; I have no feelings for you, so why would I be jealous?"

"I don't know about that- I am devilishly handsome after all." Alfred grinned as Arthur rolled his eyes. "Although you're not so bad yourself."

"Tell me the truth Jones."

"You think I'm lying?" Alfred's grin fell somewhat as he became thoughtful. It was a while before he replied. "If I recall your rant correctly, you had trained so much until you puked. Well, that's my life in a nutshell. Day in and day out I would be forced to study and train until my head was stuffed and my arms were sore. Because of my status and background, I was feared, but it wasn't right. I was feared the moment they learned my name, the moment they realized that I was the the greater devils' little experiment. I wasn't 'Alfred' to them- I was the Underworld's greatest weapon." He looked Arthur directly in the eye. "You were the first to treat me as what I _truly_ was- a devil and nothing more." He cracked a grin. "Albeit a rather powerful one at that."

This time, it was Arthur's turn to be stunned. His mind immediately went back to how he had thought Flying Mint Bunny was describing an animal when he had described Alfred to him. "You-" He was cut off by a sharp laugh.

"Don't waste your pity on me, little angel; I'm not worth it, and I certainly don't need it. But enough about me, what about you?" Alfred gazed at him with a piercing stare. "Why the change of heart? Why don't you feel hate towards me anymore? And don't give me that 'saving me' bullshit- you're not serious about that, are you?"

"I think the better question would be why are _you_ not trying to kill _me_?" Arthur retaliated. "I meant what I had said: I want to help you, so I won't kill you. _You_, however, have had enough time by now to murder me fifty times over, and yet you're just sitting there doing nothing."

"You're too interesting. It would be a waste if I lost you this early in the game." The other interlocked his hands together and laid them contently on his belly. "You're pretty much the only thing I care about after all."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the small blush rising up on his face. "I didn't know devils were capable of caring about others."

Alfred snorted. "Don't get me wrong darling; I only keep you around because you amuse me. You are correct in thinking, however, that if I was given a choice between obliterating either you or the worlds, I would do away with the worlds."

Arthur raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. In all honesty, he was rather... _touched_, but the Underworld would freeze over before he would admit that. _You shouldn't be moved when someone would eradicate everything in existence just to keep you._ Although Arthur had to admit- having lived most of his life separate from others, affection such as this rarely came his way...

It was a while before Arthur realized that Alfred was staring at him, presumably still waiting for his answer. "I... I have to go."

"Oh really?" Alfred's voice was light and airy. "After such a short visit? Come on, stay for a while, maybe have a shot of bourbon or two."

"I never planned on staying in the first place. I just... I just wanted to talk." Arthur looked away. It was weird to confront Alfred without the urge to kill him. For all his life, the only reason he wanted to see Alfred was to kill him. Now, when he actually had to, it was the one thing he didn't want to do. "I stayed here long enough. Any longer, and Flying Mint Bunny will wonder what happened to me."

_Now that I think about it, what should I tell him? It's not like I can say that I succeeded in exterminating Alfred- HQ would figure out sooner or later that I had not only lied, but that I had also had sheltered a devil. _A feeling of dread started to sink into Arthur's gut; another secret seemed to have come his way. _If I tell Flying Mint Bunny that I found Alfred, he'd be perplexed once he learns that I hadn't killed him. The last thing I need now are more questions, especially since he hasn't given up trying to get me to reveal how I know Alfred in the first place._

"Your little pet, I take it?" The sound of Alfred's voice snapped Arthur back into reality. Arthur narrowed his eyes at the term.

"He's my companion. He was there for me when no one else was. He is _not_ my 'pet'."

"Hm." Alfred started to drum his fingers on his belly. "Your companion you say?"

Arthur took a step back. Alfred hadn't shown any indication of such, but it was easy to sense that he was furious. _I'm not scared of him._ "Yes, my companion. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going."

"I don't think so. You _will_ stay." Arthur widened his eyes as he felt some sort of haze envelop his mind- the same feeling he had the last time Alfred had used Charmspeak on him. "Preferably in that spot and position."

"I-I... I..." Alfred laughed as Arthur struggled to say something.

"With a skill like this, succubae and incubi would be stronger than even the greater devils. It really is a pity for them to be too weak to use it on anything stronger than a human." Alfred stood and walked up to him. Arthur struggled to get out of his bonds, but Alfred's Charmspeak was too strong. "Greater devils don't realize that they aren't as 'great' as they claim to be. They refuse to stoop down to a lesser demon's level and learn their skills. Pity, since Charmspeak is actually very useful, as you can see here." He chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing they wanted their little weapon to learn every skill imaginable in the Underworld, right? Otherwise they would never had let Francis teach me."

Alfred started to circle around Arthur, eying him as if he was some curiosity. "Describe to me the contents of your book," he demanded once he had circled back in front of Arthur.

"The book is a compilation of the papers detailing my mission." The words tumbled out of his mouth no matter how much he had tried to keep his mouth shut.

"Tell me of your mission."

_The filthy little-!_ Against his will, he spoke. "Best and exterminate the devil lord known as Alfred F. Jones. Intelligence reports that the greater devils have been training him in the hopes of making him the Underworld's greatest weapon. Your mission is to eliminate him as soon as possible."

"Tell me the most updated information you have on the devil lord known as Alfred F. Jones."

"His whereabouts are currently unknown. Intelligence reveals that Jones took part in a scandal. Details of the scandal are currently unavailable. The last angel to have made contact with Jones is the higher angel Arthur Kirkland. Search for him and kill him on sight."

"Said that already." Alfred waved his hand. "Wow, angels sure are redundant. Are devils _really _the inferior species here?" He shrugged. "Tell me how you managed to find me."

"I got lucky. I figured that you were most likely in glamour, as hiding in your natural form would be foolish. I searched for you in my regular form before deciding on a whim to search for you while in a glamour. For weeks now, my sense told me that a devil would use their magic against a human at the park. Whether or not my glamour form counted as 'human' or the target had used their magic on an actual human does not matter- I found you in the end after realizing that you looked suspiciously like the target, had a name similar as the target, and because my sense warned me that 'Al' was not human."

"Lucky indeed." Alfred nodded. "Alright then sweetheart, I just have one last question for you before I let you scurry off to your pet." He lifted Arthur's chin so that their eyes met. "What are your feelings regarding the target otherwise known as Alfred F. Jones?"

That one Arthur didn't need to be under the influence of Charmspeak for. "You're despicable." Alfred grinned at Arthur's vehement tone. "One of the lowest beings I've ever had the misfortune of meeting in my life."

"I feel touched."

"However, you have hope." Alfred's grin faltered. "Your last words to me in our last meeting was for me to stop being bitter and find happiness. Even now, you seem to hold, for lack of a better word, a certain kind of affection to me that is not expected of your kind, especially one with your history. You have hope," Arthur said firmly. "And I plan to exploit it."

Neither said a word for quite a while. Finally, Alfred laughed as he let go of Arthur's chin. "You really are someone worth keeping around. All right, you're free to move around now."

Arthur felt whatever constricted him receded as Alfred made his way back to the sofa. "I'll be taking my leave then," Arthur said curtly as he turned his back on Alfred and started making his way to the door.

"Take care on your way back little angel. A certain pesky fiend knows of your existence, and I'd hate for him to get to you."

Arthur snorted. "Just who do you think I am? I can handle anything the Underworld can throw at me."

"Not me."

"One day." He clenched his fists. "Count on it."

"I thought you gave up on trying to kill me."

"I didn't 'give up'. I meant it when I said that I'll try to save you. However, that doesn't mean that I won't pick a fight with you."

Alfred chuckled again. "You really are a curiosity, little angel."

"Tell me something I don't know." Arthur opened the the door. "Incidentally, who is this 'pesky fiend' you speak of?"

"My brother."

Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't know much about Alfred's brother, only that Alfred was much stronger than him. "I was expecting someone much worse."

A derisive laugh echoed behind him. "Don't underestimate him. He is _my_ brother after all. Hey," Alfred's voice suddenly lost its laughter. "Come back to visit. I won't be going anywhere."

Arthur didn't reply. He closed the door as he leaved.

_Well then._ Arthur transferred his book (which he miraculously managed to hold on to) to his other hand as he started to walk away. He stopped once he reached the corner, looking back to Alfred's door.

"Maybe I did have something to lose," he murmured to no one in particular.

""""""""

"You came back." Alfred raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the door frame. He was wearing a teal sweatshirt and jeans, his glasses nestled on his nose. "I didn't think you'd come back the day after."

Arthur snorted. "Of course I would. I have to keep an eye on you after all, so it wouldn't be too wise to return late."

"Oh? Is that your mission now?" Alfred quickly looked Arthur over. "Nice clothes. At least you have human attire down."

"Do you take me for a fool? It's not that hard." Arthur had chosen to wear a forest green coat and black pants. "I _have_ been helping humans out after all; their clothes is something I can't help but notice."

"Except..." Alfred plucked Arthur's glasses from his face. "There, that's much better."

"Give it back, I need them!" Arthur reached for his glasses, only for Alfred to move them out of his reach.

"Doubt it." He crushed the glasses with his hand, golden dust falling from his hand. "Unless you actually plan to use your powers?"

"They weren't mine in the first place!" Arthur seethed. The other shrugged in reply.

"At any rate, for today, I'll be the teacher and you'll be the student. While you may have human fashion down, you still have a bit to learn when it comes to acting like one, so we're going out today! However, there are some rules you have to follow." Alfred held up his hand. "Number one: When we're out there, don't make any references to either of our pasts or of our species. You don't want to blow our cover, don't you?"

"What do you take me for?" Arthur narrowed his eyes. "And where are you taking me in the first place?"

"Number Two-" Alfred made no indication that he had even heard Arthur. "-You will not question my attitude _at all,_ capisce? Pretend as if you've known me your whole life."

"What do you mean by tha-?"

"_And finally-_" Alfred grinned widely. "You are Arthur Kirkland, a 23 year old aspiring writer and best friend to 19 year old Alfred F. Jones. Even though we're roughly the same age, you're such a prick that I thought it would be best if you were the older one here."

"Hey, I am _not_ a prick!" Arthur crossed his arms across his chest. "Nor am I your friend!"

"What are you then?"

What was he to Alfred? His toy? But that didn't seem to fit... "Your caretaker."

Alfred let out a loud chortle. "Man, what are you, my brother? If there's anyone that needs taking care of, that would be you sweetie."

"Will you quit calling me those infernal nicknames?" Arthur's face burned red with the ridicule. "I prefer to be called by my proper name."

"I prefer not to." Alfred's laugh quiet end down to a faint chuckle. "Can we leave now? I've had enough with all this chatter."

Arthur widened his stance. "I refuse to go with you until you tell me where we're going."

"What, do you think I'll lead you to a trap?" Alfred's grin widened when Arthur maintained a stony silence. "Darling, I hardly had any time to make a trap strong enough for one such as you. Nah, we'll just be seeing the sights for today." He got off the door frame. Arthur stepped back to allow Alfred some room as the other closed the door, bending down with his keys in his hand to lock it. "What'd you think we were going to do today anyways?"

"I... Um..." What could a higher angel and a fugitive devil lord even do together? "I don't know..."

"Exactly." Alfred turned towards him after a 'click' of the door lock. "So enough with the questions and let's go."

''''

Arthur looked past Alfred's shoulder. He had followed Alfred to a strange building with a red and yellow scheme that was a few blocks away from the apartment. "What is this place?"

"You've never heard of WcDonalds?" Alfred was looking at him as if he'd done something blasphemous. "Man, your place must be as terrible as you say."

"It's not my fault we don't have any of those!" Arthur glanced again at the restaurant. He rubbed his arms nervously. "It doesn't look particularly... refined. Alfred, you know I'm not used to these kinds of things."

"You just haven't experienced the wonders of fast food then." Alfred grabbed his hand. "But that's what I'm here for!"

Against his better wishes, Arthur let himself be dragged inside the restaurant. Inside, the restaurant was buzzing with activity as people happily chatted as they ate their food. Arthur's eyes anxiously darted around, overwhelmed with how many people were around. Four lines were in front of the counter; Alfred brought him to the shortest one at the left side.

"Nice performance," Alfred murmured as they waited in line. "I didn't think that you could actually do it."

"Aren't you breaking the first rule?"

"Don't you remember? I don't like following rules. Plus, nobody'll hear us over this din." Alfred grinned. "Although I didn't think you were much of a hand-holder."

"Hardly." Arthur snatched his hand away from Alfred's, his face burning as he realized that he hadn't let go. "I've been inside buildings before."

"Not like this though." Alfred chuckled. "You know, it's okay to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous."

"Then what are you shivering for?"

"I-" Arthur paused. When had he started shivering? "Fine, I'm a bit nervous."

"Now was that so hard? Feel free to hold my hand if you want to." Before Arthur could punch him, they had walked up to the counter.

"What can I get y-?" The lady took one look at Alfred and smiled. "Hey Alfred. Just the usual, right? Oh, and thanks for the help the other day; moving is such a pain in the ass. Honestly, I don't think that I could have moved half those boxes without that monstrous strength of yours."

"No problem, I _am_ the hero after all." Alfred returned the girl's smile. "But yeah, the usual would be nice."

"What about your friend over there?"

Arthur gave a small start at being mentioned. "I-"

"Just a regular burger, thanks." Alfred reached into his pocket and fished out some cash. Arthur looked up at him as the girl turned her back on them.

"_Hero_?" Alfred chuckled.

"Art, I thought you were my best friend. Don't you know by now that I like to read comics? I find the heroes in them to be rather fascinating." Arthur didn't have time to question what comics were or to even respond as their orders came up.

"Come again!" Alfred picked up the burgers in one hand and Arthur's hand with the other. He led them over to the corner of the restaurant and dropped their food on the small plastic table as he sat down.

"You know," he said as Arthur sat down. "Just what is it with you and breaking my rules? Next thing I'll know, you'd have found another partner."

"I'm not unfaithful, and unlike you, I don't break rules on pur- My word, what in the world is that?" Arthur asked as the other unwrapped his food. "I swear, it's bigger than my face."

"No worries doll, yours is much smaller." The other bit into it, somehow managing to fit the thing in his mouth. "And they're called burgers. Second best thing the humans have to offer, minus themselves. You gonna eat that, or will I?"

"Of course I will." Arthur unwrapped his food to reveal what he assumed was a burger. Like Alfred had promised, his was just two pieces of bread separated by meat compared to the monstrosity Alfred was devouring. He timidly took a bite out of it. "On second thought, maybe you should have it."

"Your loss," Alfred said as he took Arthur's burger and downed it in one bite. "Come on, they're fucking amazing."

"They're vile, that's what they are." Arthur curled his lip in disgust. "How can you handle eating so much?"

"How can you handle _not_ even finishing one? But I guess WcDonalds is off the list of places I can take you."

"You have a list?"

Alfred shrugged. "I plan to bring you to places I find interesting, although I might have to rethink that list if you don't even like fast food."

Arthur couldn't believe his ears. "How... thoughtful of you."

"I'm thirsty, I should really get a..." Alfred frowned. "You know, you really should stop that shivering darling, it ain't that cold."

"I'm not doing it on purpose!" Arthur moved to rub his arm, which had started to shake violently. "Honestly, I'm not even cold or nervous, so I guess it's just my sense at wo-"

_I'm such an idiot._

Screams replaced chatter as humans were dangled upside down in the air by their ankles. The machines behind the counter went crazy, liquids and bolts flying everywhere. Food pelted humans as they tried to cover themselves, their faces red as the blood rushed to their heads.

A thick, ice blue fog blanketed the restaurant. Meanwhile, Alfred was nonchalantly eating his burger, his head swaying as if he was dancing to a song.

"Alfred, you-!" Arthur was cut off by a screech. He whipped his head around to see a nearby human being violently swung back and forth.

"Go on angel." Alfred snapped his fingers. A large cup flew to him, its interior brimming with a brown fizzy liquid. "Show me what you got."

More screams pierced the air. Arthur concentrated as he brought out his powers. He felt his magic confront Alfred's; surprisingly enough, the other's powers vanished at the slightest push. He set down the humans, fixed the machines, and even managed to clean up the mess created. He clenched his fist as he erased the humans' memories.

"Regret not eating now?" Alfred asked as Arthur slumped to his seat. At the same time, confusion filled the room as the humans started to question how they ended up the way they were now.

"I'm not exhausted in the least. I just can't believe you'd do something as incredibly stupid as that. What if another devil or angel noticed that?"

"I'm not worried at the least. I knew you'd clean up after me, so it's all good." Alfred sipped at his drink. "By the way, you really should listen to that sense of yours; it's pretty accurate."

"As I've said, I didn't think you were this foolish. I wanted to put some faith in you."

"And you call me foolish." Alfred shook his head condescendingly. "Why else do you think I took you out? You didn't think that I'd actually take you out for a culture trip, did you? Man, you're a gullible little thing aren't you?"

"You're a complete bastard."

"I didn't know angels swore."

Arthur took in a deep breath. "Look, if you're trying to provoke me into a fight, it won't work."

Alfred feigned surprise. "Whoever said anything about a fight? I'm just doing what my species always do- have fun."

"You know, I'm pretty sure heroes don't do these kinds of things."

"What can I say? I like to play the villain role as well." Alfred drummed his fingers on the table. "Hm, I wonder what my next trick should be~?" He said in a sing-songy voice.

"I'm going." Arthur stood up. Anything he said would only be countered, and Alfred was obviously trying to pick a fight. He refused to let his anger get to him, even if Alfred's smug face made him want to shoot an arrow right through it. "If you make any more chaos in my next visits, I swear I'll just stop seeing you."

To Arthur's surprise, Alfred hesitated. "Like I care," he finally said with a snort.

"Of course you don't." Even though Arthur tried to sound scathing, he couldn't help but be confused. "I'll be going then."

"Good riddance."

Arthur left without another word. He could've sworn he heard Alfred say "Take care."

""""""""

The next few meetings found no chaos. They were actually (dare he say it) rather _fun._ True to what he had said, Alfred evidently did have a list of places to bring Arthur. He brought him to a game store, a football game, a museum... The latter one had come as a surprise to Arthur since they had all been going to places Alfred had been interested in, but it was a pleasant one nonetheless. The company was admittedly not bad either; Alfred hadn't caused any trouble since that day at WcDonalds and was actually a pleasure to be around, sans the cheekiness. Arthur found himself looking forward to their next meeting to the point where it would often take Flying Mint Bunny's nagging to remind him that he was actually supposed to do away with Alfred.

"A library?" Arthur moved ahead of Alfred. "You took me to a library?"

"Wow, you actually know this one." Alfred whistled, his hands in his jeans pockets. "Been to one before?"

"Of course! We have libraries at my place as well."

Alfred took his reference in stride. "I never liked libraries as much. It just meant studying to me. But, I figured that since you actually liked that dumb museum, why not take you to a library? The books'll be different from the ones you guys have, that's for sure."

"You didn't like the museum?"

The other rolled his eyes. "Who would? Anyways, you hadn't been enjoying the other ones as much, so I figured that maybe someplace I don't enjoy as much would be someplace that you would."

"You're surprisingly thoughtful you know."

"It's all just part of the grand scheme of things."

"I'll believe this grand scheme once I see it." Arthur made a move to walk inside. He was right in front of the doors when he realized that Alfred hadn't followed. "Alfred?"

Alfred hadn't moved from his spot. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"Those are words I never expected you to say."

"Things change." Arthur walked up to him. "And so have you."

"I haven't changed one bit." Alfred sighed. "Look, just go inside the library without me. I'll catch up to you."

"No way, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Alfred rolled his eyes again.

"What, do you think I'll do something? Your sense hasn't acted up around me for a while now, you know I won't do anything."

"Why haven't you been doing anything? I would've thought you'd be bored out of your wits right now."

Alfred shrugged. "Are you going to the library or not?"

"How come you won't come with me?"

"I told you, I never liked them much. It just meant studying for me. Right after I'd study, I'd immediately go out to train. Rinse, cycle, and repeat." Alfred looked up. "The sky is nice today."

"Pardon?"

"There are a few things I truly like, and the sky is one of them. It's pretty free, the sky." Alfred paused after his monologue. "Fight me."

"Huh?" Arthur took a step back. He didn't really understand where the conversation was going. "I refuse to."

"Come on, a fight every now and then is healthy for the soul. Plus, everything has been _way_ too tame. A fight would do us good."

"I won't."

"Fight me or I'll kill you."

"You wouldn't dare." Arthur met the other's eyes. "You know, I actually used to think that saving you was impossible, but the more I interacted with you, the more I realized that it wasn't. After all, if you truly wanted to kill me, you would have already done so. That's proof that you're being converted."

Alfred glared at him. "How exactly are you saving me?"

"I'm not sure myself actually, but perhaps I'm just being a good influence. At the very least, you're nice to me."

"How do you know it's not all just an act?"

Arthur folded his arms. "What do you have to gain by winning my affection?"

"The look you'll make once I, the person you like, betray you?" Alfred suggested.

"Then stop constantly reminding me that you're a devil."

"I remind you because I need to convince you that I'm an incorruptible being of the Underworld and that saving me is pretty damn pointless."

"Who're are you _really_ trying to convince- me, or you?" Arthur smirked at the other's stupefied expression. "If you're not coming with me, then I'll be taking my leave. I look forward to our next meeting Alfred."

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "Before you go..."

Alfred grabbed the back of Arthur's head and forcefully pulled him in for a kiss. Unlike the last two times they kissed, no pleasure whatsoever came from this one. Blue and red danced across Arthur's vision as two sensations fought inside him. He felt like he was drowning in water of absolute zero temperature while a fire turned his insides into ash. Strangled yet muffled noises came out of his mouth as he tried to get away, but Alfred's grip was too tight. As the kiss went on longer, Arthur felt himself slowly lose breath, but he couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, the kiss softened. Arthur gasped for air as Alfred pulled back, the burning feeling going away with him. "Alfred, what was-?"

"Go." Alfred refused to meet Arthur's eyes. "Just go."

Arthur reached out for him, but hesitated. Finally he nodded.

""""""""

"Arthur... Are you okay?"

Arthur looked up to find Flying Mint Bunny hovering over him. Arthur put his quill down. "Of course I am, why do you ask?"

"It's just... You seem different lately. I mean, I was worried when you came back home without your power limiter, but I thought it was just a one-time thing. Nowadays, you're rather unfocused." He leaned in to read Arthur's report. "Have you even made any progress with your mission?"

"Not really."

"Have you any idea of his whereabouts?"

"He knows what he's doing, that's for sure. Even the Underworld is having difficulty searching for him."

"I see..." Flying Mint Bunny moved away. Arthur had to suppress a sigh of relief. While he had told the truth, it still felt... _wrong._ He knew where Alfred was, he even regularly met with him.

His mind unconsciously went back to their last meeting. _I wonder if he's okay... That is, if I can even face him after_ that_._

"Arthur?" The sound of Flying Mint Bunny's voice broke Arthur out of his thoughts. "See, this is what I meant. You're distracted all the time."

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Arthur turned away. He hoped his face wasn't red. "Look, I have a report to finish and I really have to focus on it, so I'd appreciate it if you-"

"Are you even serious about exterminating Alfred F. Jones anymore?"

Arthur froze. "Of course I am," he said after some time. "Why would you even have to ask?"

"Yeah, of course..." Flying Mint Bunny frowned. "It's just... For someone roaring for Jones's blood last time, you're pretty lax. I'm just worried that you've gone soft, that's all."

"You have nothing to worry about, don't worry." Flying Mint Bunny smiled at Arthur's response.

"Alright, I'll leave you to your report then."

Flying Mint Bunny flew away. Arthur gripped his quill. How long could his charade last?

'''''

Arthur stood in front of the door, his hand hovering a few centimeters away from its wooden surface and the memory of their last meeting fresh on his mind. _Come on Kirkland; you didn't come all the way here just to quit. _

He knocked-slash-punched the door. A few seconds later, it opened.

"Hey." Alfred leaned on the door frame the moment he opened the door. He looked neither shocked nor even arrogant; he looked tired even.

"Such a gentleman you are," Arthur quipped, trying to ignore the little voice going "Is he okay?"

Alfred shrugged. "Couldn't you have visited sooner?"

"Two weeks is hardly a long time."

"It is when you're human." Alfred sighed. "Hang on, let me get my jacket."

"What do you need your jacket for?"

"Why else?" Alfred got off the door frame. "We're going on a date."

"A what?!" Arthur followed him inside the apartment room. "When had I ever agreed to that?!"

"Don't we always do that though? Only this time I'm actually saying that it is." Alfred replied as he walked up to his sofa. He picked up his bomber jacket, which looked as if it had been haphazardly thrown onto the sofa, and put it on. "Get rid of your glamour- we're going to be flying."

"Pardon?!" Arthur grabbed Alfred's arm. "I refuse to go with you until you tell me what's going on!"

"Too bad." Alfred grabbed his arm in turn. "You have to."

A misty black engulfed Arthur before he could say another word.

''''

"Ah!" Arthur gripped Alfred with both his arms, his feet dangling in the air. He looked below, only to be greeted by the sight of the ocean. "Where in the world did you take me?!"

"Nowhere in particular," Alfred replied. Somehow, he had a managed to remove his glamour on the trip to wherever they were. His hair had returned into his natural black, his eyes taking on it's normal ice blue. He kept Arthur up, powerful bat wings flapping as he hovered, his tail swishing with the wind. "Man, it's been such a long time since I've used a portal or even flew. I suggest that you lose the glamour as well; as much as I don't mind holding on to you, you have wings for a reason."

"I'll blow my cover!"

"Right now, you look as if you're floating in mid-air. You're _already_ blowing your cover."

Arthur grit his teeth and let go of Alfred. However, instead of falling into the ground, his wings kept him up.

Alfred whistled. "That's better. I missed that toga of yours, you know."

Arthur clenched his fists. "You're despicable."

"Thanks." Alfred smirked. "Now will you shut up and follow me?"

"Why should I?" Arthur snapped. "You kidnap me to who-knows-where and except me to blindly follow you?"

"You're the one who said that you needed to keep an eye on me. While it's your choice, isn't it counterproductive if you don't follow me now?" Without another word, Alfred turned his back on him and flew ahead. Heaving an exasperated sigh, Arthur soon followed.

"Where are we going?"

"What part of 'shut up and follow me' do you not understand?" Alfred retorted without looking back. "Don't you trust me?"

"At the moment? No."

Alfred only laughed in reply. They didn't speak to each other afterwards, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts.

_Where is he taking me?_ His eyes were fixed on the dark figure ahead of him. _More importantly, I never thought that devils went on dates._ Beat. _Not that this is one in the first place._ He sighed. His situation with Alfred had become complex indeed.

They kept flying until something green came up on the horizon. It was only a matter of moments before they were hovering above an island. "Why did you take me here?"

Alfred didn't reply. Instead, he just dived down. Arthur followed him, still curious as to what this whole outing was about.

"A beach?" Arthur looked around once they landed. The beach wasn't that special; an expanse of trees were behind him, the ocean in front. Between the two was a deserted strip of sand, the only two animate beings being Arthur and Alfred themselves. "You brought me to a beach? Where is this place anyways?"

"Dunno. I ended up here when I left the Underworld. Stayed here for a while." Alfred sat down facing the ocean. "It's a nice place."

Arthur raised his eyebrows as he sat down next to him. It was times like these when Arthur felt that he would never truly understand the other even if he spent a lifetime with him. "I didn't know devils were sentimental."

"Of course we're not. That sentimental shit is for humans. It's just nice to find somewhere where nothing much happens." Alfred leaned back contentedly as he looked up. "Nice weather we're having today."

"Why did you take me here, Alfred?" Arthur drew up his legs. "It's a nice place and all, but you must have some reason."

Alfred hesitated before speaking. "Little angel, this is going to be one of those rare times when I actually offer you a warning. That 'saving me' stuff... It just won't happen. I don't need to be saved, much less do I want to be. All I want is to be what I am, and I marked you because you were the first to treat me as such. In hindsight though, marking an angel was one hell of a mistake if said angel would end up trying to help me in the end."

"Then why don't you kill me now? What's stopping you? If you hate it so much, then just do away with me."

"You think I can't?"

"I know you _can. _The real question is why you haven't done so. Obviously you're trying to push me away, and yet you also spent time with me." Arthur sighed. "What exactly is your goal Alfred?"

"My goal?" Alfred chuckled humorlessly. "I'd forsaken my goal when I left the Underworld, if you can even call it that. At the very least, I had a purpose. Now... not so much." _You_, on the other hand, are tasked with exterminating me." He stood up and walked up in front of Arthur. "Come on now- kill me."

"No." Arthur returned the other's glare as he stood up as well. "I said it once, I'll say it again: I refuse to kill you."

Alfred frowned. "What have you told those superiors of yours then? That you're willfully disobeying orders?"

Arthur tried not to fidget. "What I do is no business of yours."

"Of course it's my business. You're one of my precious toys after all- I can't have anyone else breaking you before I do."

_Back to the old toy thing, I see._ Arthur didn't know what was wrong with Alfred. All he knew was that something was up. "And what makes you think you can break me? You can't even get me to deviate from my goal of saving you." Immediately, Arthur saw that he had angered Alfred.

"Little angel," Alfred's words were pointed. "This is getting tiresome. Can you just drop the act and try to kill me already? I can't handle not fighting you."

"Why haven't you tried to fight me in all the times that we've met then?"

"Because you didn't try to fight me first. _I_ can fight you at any time, but if you start the battle, then I'll know you'll be into it. And haven't you said before that you'll pick a fight with me?"

"I'm fine with fighting you. I choose not to because I know you'll be expecting me to kill you."

Alfred sighed. "Little angel-"

"And stop calling me 'little angel'." Arthur cut him off. "Or any of the other things you've called me until now. Just call me Arthur. I think that we're close enough now for you to do that."

Everything suddenly became cold. Arthur felt himself shivering. _What the-? _

Arthur jumped back fast enough to evade being struck by a magical dagger. "What are you doi-?!"

A fireball sent him sprawled on his back. With an 'oomph', Arthur barely had enough time to regain himself as another fireball nearly hit him. He stood up as fast as he could, building up a shield around him immediately as more fireballs were sent his way. Arthur started to back off as the fireballs pelted his shield. "Alfred, just give up! I won't fight you!"

A dark beam broke his shield. A hand shot up to grab Arthur's neck. Arthur tried to claw it off, only to find himself being lifted up.

"You really are cute you know, but this is getting ridiculous. I thought that maybe you were just biding your time, trying to find the right opportunity..." Alfred tightened his grip. "We're in a secluded place. You can go all-out without attracting any unwanted attention. I even attacked you first, and yet..." He let go. "Why?"

Arthur wheezed as he collapsed on his knees. When he managed to catch his breath, he looked up to see Alfred right next to a portal, the other's back turned towards him.

"Make your move soon Arthur." Alfred didn't turn to face him. "I was caught today, and it was by one of my brother's friends too. It won't be long until my brother finds me. Once my brother finds me, so does the rest of the Underworld." He laughed mirthlessly. "I don't believe in prayers, but I pray that he doesn't find you. Maybe you should even stay away from me for a while... But you won't do that, no, you 'need to keep an eye on me'..."

Alfred turned towards Arthur. "You want to save me so bad? Play your fucking role."

He left.

""""""""

Arthur flew towards Alfred's place, his heart heavy. Even Alfred wanted him to do his job now. _I never thought that my job would be the last thing I wanted to do._ Arthur had no idea what he should do. On one hand, fulfilling his mission would ensure that everyone was happy and the status quo maintained. On the other... _As much as I'd like everyone to be happy, Alfred has a chance, and for his sake, I plan on making sure he takes it._

He neared the apartment. _What the-?_ _Why is it suddenly windy?_ _...And what's Alfred doing out here without his glamour?!_

True enough, Alfred was flying near the apartment. He was facing towards another devil that looked somewhat like him, except with purple hair, white wings, and a heavy white winter coat. The other devil sent forth two royal purple cyclones. Arthur immediately put a barrier in front of Alfred, the barrier absorbing the blows.

"Alfred, are you all right?" Alfred towards him, his eyes filled with both anger and panic.

"ARE YOU A FUCKING IDIOT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Helping you!" Arthur charged at the other devil, who was preparing for another attack. The devil turned towards Arthur and sent forth a small cyclone. Arthur tried to dodge it, only for the cyclone to make its way back towards him. He yelped as the cyclone hit him, the wind magic enveloping him. While it didn't cause as much pain as Alfred's attacks had, Arthur would be lying if he said it hadn't hurt. On instinct, Arthur began to envelop himself in his magic as he healed himself.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Alfred fly at breakneck speed towards the other devil. The cyclone vanished as Alfred wrapped his hands around the other devil's neck, the other devil making choking sounds as Alfred strangled him.

"I told you before Matt, didn't I?" The other devil made more pained noises as Alfred's hand shone blue. "I marked Arthur so he is mine_, _and no greater devil or lesser demon is to even _touch _him but me." The other devil's eyes started to bulge, presumably because Alfred had tightened his grip. "Not even you little brother."

_Little brother?_

"Alfred, you're killing him!" Once Arthur was healed, he flew down to Alfred and tried to pry the other's fingers off of the other devil's neck. It was one thing for a devil to kill another devil; it was another for a brother to kill a brother. "Alfred, let go!"

For a second, he didn't think Alfred would actually listen to him. To his surprise, Alfred let go. The other devil started to hack and wheeze.

"I'm through with being the greater devils' weapon." Alfred looked down at the other devil with contempt. "I'm through with hiding."

"You..." The other devil's voice was hoarse. "Al..."

"Send the whole Underworld after me, I don't care Matthew." Alfred summoned up a portal. "I'm free."

Arthur watched as Alfred left, not even saying goodbye to him. Once the portal was gone, he turned towards the other devil. In another life, Arthur would have killed him on the spot. Now...

"Are you okay?" Arthur moved closer to the other- Matthew apparently. Matthew looked up at him and glared.

"_You,"_ he spat. Arthur was knocked back by a cyclone. "If it weren't for you, everything would be just fine. Tch! Now I have to go deal with the greater devils..." Another portal appeared. "If my brother won't get rid of you, then I will."

Arthur stood flabbergasted as Matthew left through the portal. Everything that had happened suddenly hit him. _I helped a devil. I helped a devil and somebody else saw._ Another thought hit him. _Alfred got mad for my sake..._

He shook his head. Could things get any more confusing?

"Arthur?"

Arthur widened his eyes as he looked back. Flying Mint Bunny was flying just a few feet away. "Flying Mint Bunny? When... when did you get here?"

"I followed you, I..." Flying Mint Bunny was trembling badly. "Arthur, I was worried about you! You've been acting weirdly and I know you said you were okay, but it was obvious something was up that you weren't telling me, so I followed you, and, and-"

"How long..." Arthur spoke as if he was in a daze. "How much did you see?"

"I..." Flying Mint Bunny looked at him, hurt, confusion, and even anger swimming in his eyes. "How could you?"

Before Arthur could reply, Flying Mint Bunny turned his back on him and flew away. Once he got back, there was no doubt that HQ would be informed. Arthur would become an outcast, a shame, a _traitor_, and all because he had cared for and had protected a devil.

He thought he had nothing to lose. In the end, he had lost everything.


End file.
